The present disclosure relates generally to indicating recent or live traffic conditions. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to processing images sourced from cameras deployed in vehicles to determine traffic conditions at the locations where such images are captured, and to make such images available to requesters.
Smart phones have enabled numerous mobility-based services. They are often used to run, for example, driving navigation applications that display maps and indicate the directions to a selected destination. Some applications provide an indication of traffic conditions using graphic markers or color highlighting of roadways on the map to indicate various levels of traffic congestion, or reported activity such as construction.
Traffic conditions are typically determined in one of several ways. For example, there are services that use reports from observers (e.g., helicopters) to periodically update a traffic map, indicating the relative congestion or activity as observed. Another method is based on geolocation reporting by mobile devices. A mobile device running a traffic application can periodically send in location or speed data to a central server. The server, in turn, can use the location or speed data to infer congestion based on known speed limits, past history for locations, and so on. Another method is for users of mobile devices to simply report conditions and activity, where such information is then shared with other users of the service through an instance of a client application program for the service. Yet a further approach involves the use of cameras mounted at fixed positions along or in view of certain roadways and feeding back the images captured by the cameras to a traffic reporting agency.
Each of the foregoing traffic monitoring approaches has limitations. The observer-based approach doesn't provide real time updates, and is often provided as a paid subscription service. Using user-provided speed and/or location data to infer traffic may not provide sufficient information because it is based on a model of what traffic conditions should be at a given time. The use of reports provided by users depends on the accuracy of the reports. Finally, the use of images from fixed position cameras limits the locations for which accurate, real-time traffic information is obtained. Furthermore, none of these approaches provide real-time traffic images from random locations, which could provide information that does not rely on reporting or model accuracy.
Those skilled in the field of the present disclosure will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. The details of well-known elements, structure, or processes that would be necessary to practice the embodiments, and that would be well known to those of skill in the art, are not necessarily shown and should be assumed to be present unless otherwise indicated.